William McKinley - Forming a new administration

During the interval between his election and his inauguration, McKinley
busied himself with selecting a cabinet and setting his administration in
place. Cabinet appointments are never easy to make, for they involve
considerations that may have little to do with qualifications of
candidates. The president-elect proceeded logically enough and in the end
satisfied most of the interests desiring a representative close to the
White House. His most difficult decisions concerned the future of his
campaign manager. McKinley asked Hanna to become postmaster general, a
sensible request, but Hanna preferred a seat in the Senate. A way out of
the dilemma came with the appointment of John Sherman as secretary of
state, which created a senatorial vacancy. Ohio Governor Asa Bushnell then
commissioned Hanna to take Sherman's place on Capitol Hill. The
Sherman appointment was not a happy one, for the crusty old senator had
long since passed his prime. Fortunately, McKinley secured the skills of
William R. Day as assistant secretary. It was Day, along with the second
assistant secretary, Alvee A. Adee, who was actually to run the Department
of State during the demanding months before the Spanish-American War. Day
assumed full responsibility as secretary after Sherman's
resignation in April 1898.

If for no other reason, the controversy over silver made the appointment
of a secretary of the treasury nearly as important as the appointment of a
secretary of state. McKinley's first choice was Nelson Dingley, a
congressman from Maine; but Dingley's health was poor, and he was
reluctant to sacrifice a sure seat and seniority in the House for the
uncertainties of administration. After contemplating several other
possibilities, McKinley finally settled on Lyman J. Gage, a Chicago banker
and staunch upholder of the gold standard. A man of candor as well as
tact, Gage was to become one of the president's closest advisers.

Other outstanding appointments included John Davis Long as secretary of
the navy and James H. Wilson as secretary of agriculture. The highly
respected Long, who had gained administrative experience as governor of
Massachusetts, proved a popular choice. His assistant secretary, Theodore
Roosevelt, was far more controversial. Although disliked by Thomas C.
Platt, political boss of New York's Republicans, "T.
R." had important friends who urged his appointment. No squabbling
surrounded "Tama Jim" Wilson of Iowa. Developing a warm
relationship with McKinley, he soon became a key member of the cabinet and
continued to head the Department of Agriculture until 1913. Also joining
McKinley's official family were James A. Gary as postmaster
general, Judge Joseph McKenna as attorney general, Cornelius Bliss as
secretary of the interior, and Russell Alger as secretary of war. Except
for Alger, who was to demonstrate his ineptitude during the war with
Spain, the cabinet was competent; Wilson and Gage were unusually able.